Municipal Wi-Fi Catches On in U.S. Cities

The municipal Wi-Fi market is picking up as Philadelphia and a handful of California cities embrace free citywide Wi-Fi services.

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Municipal Wi-Fi networks are making headway in the United States, with Philadelphia closing a major contract for citywide wireless service, and a couple of California cities announcing their plans for free municipal Wi-Fi.

Philadelphia officials have signed a contract with service provider Earthlink, wherein Earthlink will own and operate the Wi-Fi service that will serve Philadelphia residents, covering 135 square miles, according to Earthlink officials.

Pending city council approval, the service is expected to go live within a year, according to officials at Tropos Networks, the company in charge of Wi-Fi hardware in the deployment.

Philadelphia officials have yet to announce pricing for the upcoming service, but a business plan on the city's Web site says that the service should be "lower than current cable and DSL subscription costs."

The same business plan gives a target retail price of $16 to $20 per month for residential service with possible discounts for low-income residents, and $50 to $60 for premium business service, the latter of which will offer higher speeds.

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